Several of the people I’ve worked with and known socially over the last year have stated that they are either opposed to gun rights, and/or don’t personally wish to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. While they certainly have a right to choose not to own a gun, I am of the opinion that this is a bad choice for them, and a bad choice for our society. Allow me to explain:
The people who have told me that they are either opposed to gun rights, and/or don’t personally wish to exercise their right to keep and bear arms, are the very people that *should* have guns. They are doctors, mechanics, lawyers, nurses, custodians, and programmers, who have all demonstrated themselves to be good, honest, law abiding, and moral people. None of them appear to be violent, and I have personally seen some of them go above and beyond any duty that they may have had, in order to help people in need.
They are the people that we as a society can count on. I wouldn’t hesitate to trust these people with my money or my life, yet they don’t seem to think they should have a gun, since they feel “guns are for killing people” and they don’t need to kill anyone. To that statement, I answer that guns are indeed for killing people, and the Second Amendment protects the right to have guns for killing people in self defense, not just for hunting or target practice. Although it is not something that we like to think about, criminals can and will break into our homes to kill or hurt us and our families. In those cases, it may be necessary to fire a gun in self defense. Recognizing this is not the mark of a violent person, but of a realistic and responsible person who will fulfill their obligation to protect their children and other family members.
Equally apparent is the fact that criminals ignore gun bans. Given the fact that gun control will not stop criminals from having guns, on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, we need our law abiding citizens to be armed. It protects not only those armed citizens, but everyone else too.